The Baby Has No Strength to Hide! - Chapter 13

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 13
Kaius was bored to the point of madness. Without even his closer acquaintances present, listening to forced flattery made him feel as though he himself were growing stupid.
Yet there was nothing to be done about it.
He was the sole son of House Lubentain, destined one day to rule the Northern Region. These were people he would eventually need to look after.
Abandoning his seat and fleeing just because things were tedious or distasteful would be something only a thoughtless child would do.
“That’s the one?”
Conte’s son pointed toward the window. Kaius turned his head with an expressionless face.
A small child came into view, running with determined effort.
“Why is he running so hard?”
“My father said he has no idea where that little thing rolled in from, but look how earnestly it’s rolling along.”
“Ha. That’s harsh.”
Kaius closed his eyes and exhaled deeply toward the ceiling. Countless thoughts raced through his mind. In truth, he could not deny that the little creature displeased him.
The Traditional Faction’s retainers had gone so far as to summon even the Emerging Faction to the Grand Duchy. Their intent was clear: to settle Ailuen’s housing situation once and for all and build justification for expulsion.
The two factions, who had opposed each other relentlessly, would surely agree on this matter alone. Keeping a child of unclear origins in the Grand Duke’s residence made no sense whatsoever.
He understood.
His mind grasped it perfectly well.
Yet Kaius detested the entire situation intensely.
It disgusted him how the Traditional Faction, who usually dismissed the Emerging Faction, would drag them here merely to expel a single child, swelling their numbers. He was also furious at the Emerging Faction for being used by these people without understanding their own position.
‘That’s all it is—I simply dislike it.’
Kaius made it clear to himself that his resistance stemmed from no sympathy for the little creature.
‘Besides, what exactly is that child trying to do?’
Judging by the direction of movement, the destination appeared to be the Garden. There was nothing particularly unusual about a small child taking a flying squirrel and a cat for a walk, yet to Kaius’s eyes everything seemed suspicious.
Most of all, the sharp gazes scrutinizing the child within these Grand Duchy walls grated on him. People in someone else’s household taking it upon themselves to judge and monitor someone felt presumptuous.
‘I should follow.’
After all, this was a rightful act by the master of the house to track an uninvited guest’s movements.
If he was fortunate, he might discover crucial evidence that would uncover the secret this child was hiding.
***
The Garden of House Lubentain was every bit as vast and splendid as its reputation. Along perfectly ordered paths, as if measured by a ruler, rare flowers that bloomed throughout all four seasons displayed their own colors.
The air swirled with the mingled fragrance of nameless blossoms, hanging sweet and heavy.
“Wow…….”
Ailuen was momentarily lost in the Garden’s overwhelming scale. It was incomparably broader and lovelier than the small flowerbed surrounding the Cottage.
Yet admirably, Ailuen quickly regained composure and reminded herself of her true purpose.
“I didn’t come here to play.”
Ailuen murmured, her expression resolute as she clenched her fists.
“I’m here to complete a very important mission.”
“Meow…….”
Kiki released an indifferent sound and flicked her tail.
“Chirp!”
Didi raised his tiny front paws enthusiastically from Ailuen’s shoulder in encouragement.
Ailuen recalled Marlin’s teachings.
‘Ailuen, the truly precious and good things are always the ones that don’t catch the eye.’
Marlin always said that. The most brilliant flower might harbor the deadliest poison, and the humblest grass blade might be a cure for all ailments.
“Mari’s Treasure could be hiding here!”
Ailuen stepped off the well-kept path and headed toward the thick, overgrown undergrowth—a corner of the Garden that seemed untouched by human hands.
That was where true treasure would be concealed.
“Hey, what are you doing here?”
A mocking voice cut through. She turned to see Kaius standing there along with several unfamiliar boys.
“Really is tiny.”
“Poke it and it’d probably roll away.”
A barrage of jeers descended overhead, but Ailuen simply stood there, her large clear eyes blinking steadily. Watching her, Kaius felt something inside him beginning to simmer.
To him she narrowed her eyes and argued back so readily, yet now she just stood there with her mouth firmly shut. He couldn’t understand it.
“Ailuen…….”
“Oh, she speaks, she speaks.”
“I need to go.”
“Go where? Huh? Really just wandering around as she pleases. Does she even know where she is?”
“No sense of propriety, it seems.”
The tone of conversation surrounding the child began to escalate gradually.
The thoughtless boys’ treatment of Ailuen was partly an attempt to curry favor with Kaius, but beneath it lay a more base psychology—the cruelty born of preying upon someone weaker and younger than oneself.
Yet the expression of Kaius, standing at the center of it all, was growing steadily colder.
“Would you step aside?”
“Move aside, would you?”
“Hey, show us some Magic, come on.”
“That’s right—the great Zeronias raised you, didn’t he?”
Someone gave Ailuen a sharp shove on the shoulder. The inattentive five-year-old lost his balance and tumbled head over heels across the ground.
“……!”
Kaius, startled, shoved the boy who had pushed Ailuen roughly aside and rushed toward the child—but in that instant,
Ailuen sprang to his feet.
“You all right……?”
Ailuen’s pale cheeks were flushed red, and his hair stuck up in all directions, hopelessly tangled.
His expression was dazed, almost vacant, which made Kaius’s heart lurch. He could only ask carefully.
“Hahahaha!”
Then Ailuen suddenly burst into bright, clear laughter—the unselfconscious laugh of someone who had just experienced the most delightful game.
“Kaius, did you see that? This is the muscle that Lili developed through Carrot Pulling training.”
“…….”
“Why don’t you try doing some Carrot Pulling instead of playing around with those little cowards?”
Ailuen patted Kaius’s side with an air of considerable dignity.
Kaius stared down at the child, too stunned for words. In an instant, all his worry had made him feel like a fool.
“What did you just call me, you little coward?”
The boy who had pushed Ailuen rolled away took a step forward, breathing hard through the awkward silence.
It was Beck, the only son of Jenno, one of the Traditional Faction retainers of House of Lubentain.
Whenever Jenno had business at the Grand Duchy, he always brought Beck along to make his mark. The Northern Region rarely hosted grand gatherings, so he was desperate to secure Beck a place as the Young Duke’s closest companion.
“So that makes you a little coward, doesn’t it?”
At Ailuen’s matter-of-fact question, Beck’s lip tightened.
Beck himself was every bit as ambitious and greedy as his father. He desperately wanted to become Kaius’s closest confidant and most noble friend.
On the surface, Kaius seemed sociable and kind, but Beck could sense it instinctively. Indeed, every young noble in the Northern Region must have already felt it keenly.
The Young Duke of House of Lubentain did not easily open his heart to just anyone.
“Why would I be a little coward? You’re the one living off others’ charity.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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